It Takes Time / Reaper x fem!OC

30. Unmasked

Not quite realising just how tired she had been during the day, and how exhausting it had been to pour her heart out like that, Sienna fell asleep almost immediately next to Reaper once the tears stopped flowing.

It was dreamless and uneventful, but real life couldn't have been less so. As the dawn light began to flood through the window, Sienna was the first to awaken - and her morning daze didn't last long this time.

Jumping out of her skin and stifling a tiny scream at the white mask inches away from her face, and the arm draped heavily over her chest, Sienna lay frozen in her bed.

Oh God, it wasn't just a dream... Last night really happened.

Panicking inside her mind, but trying to calm her frantic heart, Sienna closed her eyes again.
Is he still going to be drunk this morning? Or is he going to have a terrifying hangover?

She really wasn't sure what would be better, but either way it was clear that she wasn't going to be the one to wake him. Except, if she wasn't planning to do that, then she wouldn't be able to move anywhere.

Lifting her head to follow his arm, his heavy weight was resting on her ribs, just above where his claws had dug in last night. Drawing her attention back to her wound, it had bled through the bandage a bit and had stained her shirt, but the bed was fine and it seemed to have stopped already.

'Well, that's a small relief I guess. And he's not pressing on it right now so...' Sienna's whispers to herself trailed off as she considered her situation. Unable to turn over to look at her alarm clock, she would have to just wait until her alarm went off to get up for training.

And at that thought, dread filled her veins with ice. The alarm.

Knowing how grouchy and aggressive Reaper could be in normal situations only worsened Sienna's fears for how he would be if he was woken up at 6am with an alarm. And not only that, but she knew he would be mortified at himself for coming to her room like this.

Frantically rushing to find a way to turn off her alarm without waking him, her planning time was cut instantly short as Reaper stretched in his sleep, yawning underneath his mask and shifting his body, somehow pressing closer into her.

With no time to think, Sienna relaxed her body and steadied her breathing. Even in a terrible mood, she trusted him. Especially after what he said last night... 'I won't let her hurt you'... she felt safe somehow in his arms - even in a terrible mood, she knew he wouldn't hurt her, but it was too late now: she was committed to being 'asleep'. Feeling him wake up, she felt the exact moment he realised what was going on as his entire body froze and stiffened against her.

And then, a whisper:

'Fuck'

He didn't move for another couple of moments, and Sienna managed to hold her nerve. He hadn't sat up yet, and his arm was still slung over her, as if he was trying not to wake her up.

//

His whole body ached, and his throat was almost painfully parched, and cracked as he tilted his head upwards. Thankful to his mask that darkened the bright dawn lights streaming through the window, Reaper looked back towards the girl nestled cosily beside him.

Struggling to remember what happened last night, Reaper felt a feeling he hadn't in a very long time - a pang of fear. It was coated in a cocktail of confusion, and buried by a throbbing headache, but it was there, and Gabriel Reyes knew what it was.

Why it was there, however, was another story that wasn't quite so clear.

Expecting the usual rush of anger that came when he noticed his own weaknesses, Reaper was unnerved by the lack of hot resentment this time. He may have had no idea what on earth was going on, but each time he looked back at the sleeping girl, with her soft cheeks and messy hair splayed out behind her, her comfort and ease in his presence stirred up something within him.